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Nouns
The following nouns ending in –f(e) have plurals in –ves : calf, elf, half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf,
shelf, thief, wife, and wolf.
The following nouns can have plurals in either –fs or –ves : dwarf, hoof, scarf, and wharf.
Other words ending in -f(e) are regular, e.g. cliff, handkerchief, or safe.
3. Foreign plurals
Countable nouns:
Liquids
Things that have tiny parts and things that are usually weighed or measured, rather than counted
(wheat, rice, corn, salt, pepper, cinnamon, flour, sugar, sand, dirt, dust, gravel, grass, mold, hair )
Solids that can be cut into smaller pieces (bread, butter, cheese, meat, paper, wood, cotton, gold, silver,
iron, film, glass, chalk, ice)
Natural phenomena (darkness, dew, electricity, fog, gravity, hail, heat, humidity, light, lightening, rain,
sleet, snow, sunshine, thunder, weather, wind )
Diseases (cancer, chicken pox, cholera, flu, heart disease, malaria, measles, rabies, scabies, smallpox )
Groups made up of similar individual items (art, baggage, cash, change, clothing, equipment, food, fruit,
furniture, garbage, grammar, hardware, homework, housework, information, jewelry, junk, knowledge,
luggage, machinery, mail, makeup, merchandise, money, music, news, postage, research, scenery,
slang, traffic, vocabulary, work)
Abstractions (advice, anger, beauty, behavior, communication, confidence, courage, education, energy,
enjoyment, evidence, fun, happiness, health, help, honesty, hospitality, importance, intelligence, justice,
love, luck, patience, peace, poverty, progress, proof, significance, sleep, time, truth, violence, wealth )
Task 4: On the basis of the rules for using articles, which combinations of words below are permitted
and which ones aren't? Put an X next to the incorrect combinations.
1. an evidence
2. these news
3. some information
4. a chaos
5. a paper
6. the sociology
7. a few proofs
8. a luggage
9. a progress
10. how many damage?
11. a job
12. few work
13. these knowledge
14. little knowledge
15. how much news?
Task 6: Decide whether these sentences need the definite article a(n).
Task 8: Fill in the blank with the form of the noun in parentheses that is appropriate to the grammatical
context of the sentence and the meaning of the passage as a whole.
Because diabetes can cause devastating _________ (damage, damages) to virtually all body ________
(system, systems), people with diabetes should not underrate the seriousness of their disease. Learning
to live with a chronic ________ (illness, illnesses) such as diabetes must be an ongoing process.
The Hospital's Center for Family Life Education is sponsoring a five-part educational series on diabetes.
The series will begin on April 30 and continue through May 29. The _________ (program, programs) will
be held in the second floor classroom of the Education Center from 7-9 p.m.
The diabetes series is free and open to the public and will be of specific _________ (interest, interests)
to people who have diabetes and their families and friends.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/2/10/26
Task 9: Discussion/Writing
1. Emergency preparedness professionals say that we should all keep sufficient supplies in our homes
for living for three days without help in case of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, or a flood, or a
human-caused disaster, such as a chemical spill or a terrorist attack. Working with a partner or a small
group, create a list of necessary supplies for survival. Use numbers and plural endings with countable
nouns; don’t use numbers or plural endings with uncountable nous.
2. Imagine that you are going to prepare a special dinner for friends and that you want to include two or
three of your favorite dishes. Make a shopping list for the things you will need to buy. Use numbers and
plural endings with countable nouns; don’t use them with uncountable nouns.
Most common nouns which are usually uncountable in English, but countable in other
languages:
1. __________ of research
2. __________ of lightening
3. __________ of thunder
4. __________ of chess
5. __________ of furniture
6. __________ of grass
7. __________ of luck
8. __________ of bread
accommodation a case
baggage/luggage a poem
equipment a trip
knowledge a coin
money a tool
poetry a place to live
progress a step forward
publicity a fact
travel a job
work an advertisement
Many nouns which are generally uncountable can also be countable in certain contexts.
Some nouns are uncountable when we talk about the substance, material or abstract concept but
countable when we talk about one specific item: chicken/a chicken, light/a light, stone/a stone, hope/a
hope, education/an education, hair/a hair
Some nouns are uncountable when we talk about the material and countable when we refer to a specific
thing have a particular meaning as countable nouns. For example, glass refers to a material. A glass
refers to an item that we drink from which is made of glass. It does not refer to a piece of glass: wood/a
wood, paper/a paper, iron/an iron, cloth/a cloth
Some nouns which are usually uncountable can be countable when we refer to a particular variety:
wine/an excellent wine, cheese/a strong cheese, fruit/a very sweet fruit
In informal English, drinks and some types of food which are normally uncountable can be counted,
particularly when we are making an order in a café or restaurant: tea/three teas, coffee/a coffee,
soup/two soups
Some ing forms can be countable: painting/a good painting, drawing/a few drawings
Task 12: Write “a” before the nouns which are being used as countable nouns.
1. a) _____Beauty is subjective
b) She’s _____ real beauty.
Nominalization
e.g. beneficial – benefit, coherent – coherence, enormous – enormity, intelligent – intelligence, logical –
logic, relevant – relevance, secure – security, similar – similarity, stable – stability
Task 13: Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first. Use one noun in
each space.
1. a) It is essential to communicate regularly but briefly with the sales force in the field.
b) Regular but brief ______________ with the sales force in the field is essential.
2. a) Local authorities preserved a wide area of land from being developed, and this allowed them
to create a park
3. a) The presenter questioned whether some of the research into prime numbers was relevant.
b) The ______________ of some of the research into prime numbers was questioned by the
presenter.
4. a) Orton supports Foster, who predicts slow economic growth led by the service sector.
b) Orton supports Foster in his _______________ of slow economic growth led by the service
sector.
5. a) The political situation must be stable before it is possible for poverty in this part of Africa to be
eliminated.
Noun Phrases
Task 14: Rewrite the underlined parts of the sentences, following the instructions in brackets.
1. The 2004 inquiry into the funding of the arts in the regions (use three words) criticized the way
in which grants awarded by government (use two words) had been distributed.
2. Stonebridge (2009) explores the phenomenon of riots that take place in the summer (use two
words) in UK and American cities.
3. New legislation is unlikely to change beliefs that have been held for a long time (use a
compound adjective and a noun) over the place of religion in society.
4. Freedom of the press (use two words) and human rights are often linked, argues Hogg (2010).
5. A documentary that was broadcast recently (use a compound adjective and a noun) suggested
that residents in care homes (use three words) are not always treated with the respect they
deserve.
6. Allegations of bribery (use two words) have been made against several European companies
that trade in oil (use a compound adjective and a noun) .
7. Drivers of tankers that carry fuel (use two words) are required to take a test in fire safety (use
three words).
8. Trucks that have broken down (use a compound adjective and a noun) are sometimes
abandoned in this region because of a lack of spare parts.
9. Products made from plastic (use two words) are rarely biodegradable.
10. Reliable statistics for the length of time that people are expected to live (use three words) are
not yet available for the island.
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http://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/2/10/26